I am an English teacher/entrepreneur seeking a business partner willing to join me in investing in and running a start-up English language training school in Georgia (Sakartvelo not GA!!) If you're tired of working for dodgy ELT outfits, through with management that is just out to pilfer the pockets of students, and want to shape your own direction in the ELT profession then please read on.

Why Georgia?Georgia is a Western-leaning, business-friendly country offering a relatively unsaturated market for organised English tuition. Yes I know there was a war there recently, but comparatively Georgia offers the most open and un-complex business registration system in the former CIS. Georgia seeks acceptance in the Western club of nations which provides a huge impetus for the business and student community to learn English.

Who are you?I am seeking to find a business partner who is willing to accept half the risk for half the stake in a prospective language school in Tbilisi, Georgia. I need a partner who is working, or has worked in the ELT industry, especially a teacher (we know best!) This someone needs to have the time, energy and money (negotiable) to put into a new language school (don't be put off - we can discuss the details later) in the latter half of this year.

Who am I?Having been teacher of English for several years, I want to take control of my career and put into practice a language school that reflects my and my future business partner's ideals; academic excellence, administrative flexibility and competence, and value for money for customers.

So don't hang around working for a bad company, get in touch and we can make something fantastic happen.

Please direct all serious responses through my personal messaging service (where we can talk shop and discuss the details). If you're concerned about the security situation in Georgia, I would advise getting up to speed by reading some news articles on:

There are several members of this board who own, or have owned language schools and/or TEFL training schools. Start up costs are minimal.

On the other hand, joining a franchise is usually extremely expensive, and the independent branches are left to struggle in the market along with their competition. Because of the heavy investment involved, which in some cases is little more than purchasing a logo or a template website; it is especially these branches that often fall guilty of underhand business methods and unfair treatment of their employees. Any ROI is a pipedream.

I offer any information or advice 'as is' and hope that it has been of help. I am not an admin of this board, and my postings do not necessarily reflect the opinions of the board management.____________________Thailand TESOL forum

Peter Easton wrote:The whole point of franchises is that it takes extremely bad management to screw one up. That's why they are so expensive - they are a license to print money.

I couldn't agree more, Peter.The franchisors are only interested in selling the franchise, and are little interested in whether a local market exists. Their salesmen - and I have met some of them - are sometimes little more than carpetbaggers who rely on the naïvety of targets who have little or no knowledge of either management or EFL.I could cite two classic examples, but that's not for here.My own stand-alone school in France was started on a shoestring and was roaring success.